British GT Rockingham preview: GT4

GT4 promises to be as tight as ever at Rockingham as the field re-groups from a wet Oulton Park. Leading the driver’s championship are Adam Balon and Ben Barnicoat in the Track Club McLaren 570s following their victory in round 1. Race 2 victors Nick Jones and Scott Malvern find themselves third in the championship and facing a 20 second success penalty which could seriously hamper their chances on Sunday. The pair showed some great pace in the Team Parker Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 but will need some luck to overcome the deficit.

The 15 second success penalty goes to HHC Motorsports Mike Newbould and Will Burns who struggled in race 1 having started well down the order but for race 2 started from second place. Of the other Ginettas in the field Anna Walewska in the Team Hard G55 has tasted success at Rockingham in the past and with Callum Hawkins-Row alongside her they could be looking at a podium finish.

If consistency is anything to go by then the number 43 Century Motorsport BMW M4 must surely be in with a shout having picked up two P3 finishes at Oulton Park leaving drivers Jack Mirchell and Ricky Collard second in the championship. However a driver change will see Collard replaced by Aleksander Schjerpen who returns to the championship after just a single outing last year. With a P2 finish under his belt from his last visit to Rockingham in 2016, the Norwegian will be one to watch although a 10 second success penalty could cause problems.

Tolman Motorsport lead the team standings with the #4 McLaren of Micheal O’Brien and Charlie Fagg holding 4th in the driver’s standings following a P2 finish in race 1 but as silver drivers their longer minimum pitstop time could see them outrun by team-mates David Pattison and Joe Osborne.

Equipe Verschuur shouldn’t be discounted having grabbed both pole positions at Oulton Park before losing them in a qualifying mix-up. If the Dutch team with their young British drivers Finley Hutchinson and Daniel McKay can repeat their Oulton Park qualifying pace then they will certainly be in contention with their McLaren 570S GT4.

Elsewhere in the field Academy Motorsport will be hoping for better things following a bruising weekend at Oulton Park for their Aston Martins, both of which scored points but suffered shunts in the process. The Invictus Games Jaguar F-Types will be looking to build on a solid first couple of races and score their first points of the year as will the Stellar Performance Toyota GT86s who have already won the prize for the most original livery of 2018 which comprises a montage of all the circuits the championship will visit in 2018.

The race starts Sunday at 13:10 local time (14:10 CET) and runs for 2 hours. Full live streaming of the race will be available with details to follow.